Balloon.



A. VON HOFFMANN.

BALLOON.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11, 1909.

1,056,791. Patented Mar.25,1913.

- 1 UNITED snaps PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT vor'z HOFFMANN, OF ST. LOUIS,.MISSOUBL BALLOON.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT von Horr- MANN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Balloons, of which the following is aspecific'ation containing a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.I

My invention relates to the construction of balloons, the object of myinvention being to provide means whereby balloons, either dirigible ornon-dirigible or pear or cigar-shaped", may be ballasted solely by air.

' For the above purposes my invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction and arrangementvof parts as will'bc hereinafter morefully set forth, pointed out in my claim and illustrated in theaccompanying drawingi in which.

Figure 1 is an e evation of a dirigible balloon of the cigar-shapehaving parts broken away to illustrate the arrangement of the ballastchamber; and, Fig. 2 is a similar view of a pear-shaped balloon partlyin section illustrating the means whereby the expansion and contractionof'the gas within the gas bag is'compensated for, .and which meansalsoserves to contain air to be employed for a ballast.

Referringby numerals to the accompanying drawing: 1 designates the gasbag which is provided with the usual filling opening 2.

3 designates a chamber carried by the gas bag, 4 designates a pump forcompressing air within the chamber 3 and 5 designates a valve arrangedto exhaust thecompressed air from the chamber.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the chamber 3 is preferably providedwith noncollapsible walls,there being studs or pins 6 connecting thewalls. By this'arrange-- mentof a chamber having non-collapsible walls,the chamber may be either filled with compressed air or a vacuum may beformed therein which vacuum serves a double function to increase thebuoyancy of the balloon and forming a heat or coldinsulation for the gasbag to prevent expansion and contraction of the gas contained within thegas bag.

As shown in each of the figures of the drawing, theconnection 7 betweenthe cham' her 3 and pump 4 is flexible and of such construction that itmay be attached to either end of the pump so that the pump may beemployed either to compress air within the chamber, or when theconnection 7 is ap-' plied to the opposite end of the pump and the pumpoperated the air may be exhausted from the chamber 3, and, when thechamber is of the non-collapsible variety, as shown in Fig. 1, a furthercontinued operation of the pum may create and form a vacuum within .t echamber 3.

In the construction shown in Fig, 2, sus

pended from the basket 8' is a second col lapsible chamber 9 havingv aconnection 1.0 with the collapsible chamber 3 and with the pump 4. Thevalve 5 in this arrangement may be operated and the-air from the pump 4supplied to either the chamber 3 or 9 or both, or the valve may beoperated to, open a vent to atmosphere to exhaust airfrom .either orboth of the chambers 3 and 9.

In preparing the balloon for ascension constructed as shown in Fig. 1with the noncollapsible chamber 3, a vacuum is formed in the chamber 3to be utilized in the insulating of the gas bag to prevent contractionand expansion of the gas within the gas bag and materially assist thelifting of the balloon, and if it be desired at any time the valve 5 maybe operated and the vacuum within the chamber 3 destroyed. And if it bedesired at any time to add weight to the balloon for ballast the pump 4may be operated and the chamber filled with compressed air, if then itbedesired to make further ascension the valve 5 may be operated to releasethe compressed air and the connection between the-chamber and pumpconnected with the opposite end, or suction end, of the pump, and avacuum again formed, in the chamber 3 which will increase the buoyancyof the balloon and again utilize as a means for insulating the gas bagagainst heat and cold toprevent expansion and contraction of the gascontained therein.

In preparing the form of balloon shown in Fig. '2', or one in whichthere is a collapsible chamberfeir air, for ascension the chambers 3 and9 alre each filled with compressed air, the gas bag 1 is then inflated.In this construction, by reason of the collapsible air chamber, noprovision is possible for a vacuum which is utilized for insulatingagainst heat and cold to prevent contraction and expansion of gasbut byreason of the chamber 3 being placed within the gas ba the chamber 3 maybe inflated or deflate to compensate for the expansion and contractionof the as. In other words, the stretching and shrinkingofthe fabricforming the gas bag has a tendency toward deterioration and if there isno provision for the maintenance of the bag at a u niform size the bagis constantly changing size and shape; and by the employment of aninflatable bag within the gas bag when the gas contracts and occupies asmaller compass the gas bag may be maintained at the same pressure andof the same size at all times by either inflating or deflating thechamber 3 according to the contraction or expansion of the gas.

The bag 9 which is suspended from the basket is utilized for the storageof air from the chamber 3 when the same is deflated to allow forexpansion of the gas; in this man-' ner the air may be again supplied tothe chamber 3 from the chamber 9 without the employment of the pump.

f, assuming that the balloon is ascending, it be desired to descend, thepump is actuated and air is supplied to either or both of the chambers3' and 9 to a weight suificient for the descension desired, thedescension being governed by the amount of air supplied to the airchambers."

'When both chambers 3 and 9 are filled with air and it be desired todeflate them I ment of cumbersome weights as is-now in common use.

I claim: a

In a balloon of the'class described, a gas bag, an inclosure forthe gasbag having spaced apart, non-collapsible walls, a car suspended fromsaid inclosure, a combined compressing and exhausting pump, a flexibleconnection arranged to connect the interior of said inclosure to eitherthe compressing or exhausting end of said pump, a valve controlledcommunication between the interior of the inclosure and atmosphere, andmeans extended through the inclosure for filling the gas bag.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inpresence of two subscribing witnesses.

'ALBERT VON HOFFMANN.

Witnesses:

E. E. LONGAN, E. L. WALLACE,

